Rubbish savings to be made

Rotorua changed to a multi-bin rubbish system last year. Photo: Supplied.

Moving to a city council controlled multi-bin rubbish collection system will save residents $80-$90 a year city councillors have been told.

The information was presented at a workshop discussion on kerbside recycling and waste modelling held last week.

Strategic business manager Jeremy Boase says the figures come from the economic modelling, based on information gathered over the last year.

This included interviews with residents rubbish collectors and by physically going through samplings of rubbish bags during each of the four season, to count what is being tossed.

“What goes in a green bin or bag, about 70 per cent could be diverted in a different world,” says Jeremy.

Rubbish collection under the existing market led collection is costing residents about $329 a year, or about $400 if the cost of dropping green waste or rubbish at transfer stations is added.

The indicative modelling shows a multi-bin council controlled rubbish collection will cost residents $235-$245 per household. That's without including council administration costs.

With a civic-led rubbish collection service the average resident will be paying less and the city will be diverting more rubbish from landfill than at present.

The cost per tonne of what is being diverted to landfill is also expected to come down over time, says Jeremy.

The number of bins in use depends on how the organics are treated; windrows, anaerobic digestion or in-vessel composting.

Mixing organic food waste and green waste in the same bin will require in-vessel composting. There's the option of starting with a three-bin system and after five years separating the green waste and organics into separate bins.

“You can use more effective treatment processes if you strip the green waste from the compost. You can use the anaerobic digestion which is more effective for the food waste.”

The timing is looking at introducing the three-bin solution in the 2020/21 year and introducing the fourth bin for food waste a couple years later when the infrastructure has been developed, says Jeremy.

Speaking after last week's meeting, committee chairman Steve Morris says $238 per property is almost a 10 per cent rates rise if council has to pay for it.

A formal paper will be presented to the council next month with some recommendations to see if the proposal goes into the Long Term Plan.

7 Comments

Be Green

As usual, the negative voices show they don't care about improvement or global warming. How dark the world must be for them, when even green improvements are torn down.

Miss Adventure

Posted on 03-10-2017 13:38 | By waiknot

WOW your quick

Great ... rates increase again?

Posted on 03-10-2017 11:40 | By MISS ADVENTURE

But of course does that eman the cost of rubbish collection paid separately now will not need to be paid? If so then overall a saving will follow, so thats would be acceptable.

Who will trust these figures?

Posted on 03-10-2017 10:41 | By Bill Gibson-Patmore

I do not wish to personally 'knock' Tauranga City Council staffer Jeremy Boase.... However, not all costs have been included in his paper estimates. ...He even admits that "Council Administration Costings" is not included! When admin becomes a burden on the council, naturally the ratepayers stand that cost. ...It would be quite an easy step to imagine that 'heralded saving' of $80 (or is it $90.. they do not know) vanishing in Council Administration!... The major and most significant benefit of having a market-led service, costed individually according to various business models is that the citizens in collaboration with the various providers - all operating in a competitive environment - actually set the required cost-recovery fees! ...No matter how hard they might try, Council cannot do that if they assume the role of monopoly supplier!... Trust Council Estimates?Not me.

Load of Rubbish

Posted on 03-10-2017 10:00 | By rogue

To be honest the cost to RATEPAYERS should be cost neutral, as I imagine we will all be getting a rates rebate for the costs associated with Rural Fire now being covered by Fire and Emergency NZ & not local council. The funding of Rural Fire is now covered by an increase in Fire Levies in our Insurances'. Rural Fire is now the same as Urban Fire ( previously NZ Fire Service ). The two merged back in July to reduce a double up in services & costs..... surely this is the costs savings they publicized at the time.I know await my new bins to be delivered at no cost to me, and friends & neighbours to save up to $300 a year on their current bins.

So, does that mean

Posted on 03-10-2017 08:56 | By tish

that $174 private bin companies charge us now to empty doesn't cover the dump fees? And the recycling we already do has no value? They sampled individual's rubbish bags, did they also sample the bin providers trucks from all the people who handle their refuse differently? How are the Council going to get all those separate bins way down the long ROWs to the kerbside and where on the roadside will they put them to collect from when there's nowhere on the roadside to leave that many bins for large collections of houses, all down ROWs in a small area? Do they think their ratepayers all live on an ordinary street? Those who use live and or use kerbside refuse collection can pay more and use the service, leave it alone for the rest of us who for whatever reason don't, or can't.

Something has to change............

Posted on 03-10-2017 07:57 | By Smilarkie

........ every rubbish day we get in excess of 11 different trucks down the street. How un-enviromently friendly is that.